Search for Bronx CB7 DM Drags, Cleanliness to Blame

The latest delay on securing a Community Board 7 district manager has to do with an untidy office.

At the last CB7 general board meeting on Nov. 21, the holdup was blamed on finding a vendor to properly sanitize the office.

“The process has to be delayed to allow time for the board office to undergo a thorough, professional, hygienic cleaning in order to safeguard the health and well-being of the staff, the income new district manager and visitors,” read Andrew Laiosa, chair of the Search Committee conducting interviews of prospective district managers.

The board’s previous district manager, Andrew Sandler, had resigned from the position two weeks before he passed away from cancer in August.

It’s unclear what specifically needs to be cleaned, though sources tell the Norwood News that a flood in the bathroom a month and a half ago is to blame, among other things. Since the summer, the board office has operated regularly, with employees arriving to work on weekdays. Meantime, committee meetings are held at the office three times a week. The board office has two employees. None have become sick from the office.

No member had raised any questions related to health conditions at the office once Laiosa read from his report.

This will be the fifth district manager the board has sought. Prior district managers have left either because of infighting or seeking other employment.

District managers serve at the pleasure of the board. They function as an attache for residents who need quality of life concerns addressed by the right city agencies. The board has managed to go about its daily routine, with Thomas Lucania, the Bronx Borough President’s director of the community boards unit and legislative affairs, filling in.

The board has identified two prospects. The Norwood News is withholding their names due to privacy concerns, though one currently works for New York City government while the other had worked at a not-for-profit.